Abstract
The worldwide shortage of medical-grade ventilators is a well-known issue, that has become one of the central topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that these machines are expensive and have long lead times, one approach is to vacate them for patients in critical conditions while patients with mild to moderate symptoms are treated with stripped-down ventilators. We propose a mass-producible solution that can create such ventilators with minimum effort. The central part is a module that can be attached to CPAP machines and repurpose them as low-pressure ventilators. Here, we describe the concept and first measurements which underline the potential of our solution. Our approach may serve as a starting point for open-access ventilator technologies.
Highlights
The rapid dissemination of COVID-19 has led to a short-term shortage of ventilators worldwide
We believe that CPAP machines repurposed as stripped-down ventilators can help with the crisis in the short term
It is important to note that CARL must be rigorously examined and tested before it can be used on humans
Summary
Ventilation specifications for a minimally acceptable ventilator. Our set of ventilation specifications is aimed at COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms as they may not require all functionalities provided by a medical-grade ventilator. For the definition of the ventilation variables and modes, we use the terminologies and the guidelines provided by Charburn et al.[34]. In addition to the ventilation specifications, we implemented functionalities in CARL’s design that ensure the patient’s safety during therapy and the safe operation of CARL.
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